Commission approves Faria Beede zoning change

Montville — A zoning change the Planning and Zoning Commission approved Wednesday will allow Faria Beede Instruments Inc. to move forward with plans to sell its 11-acre Pink Row property to a development company that plans to convert the buildings into multifamily residential units.

After a public hearing, the members of the commission voted unanimously in favor of changing the property’s zoning designation from industrial to urban residential, which permits various kinds of homes and residential buildings, nursery schools, parks, parking lots and government buildings, among other uses.

The commission’s vote Wednesday was the second one it had taken on the zoning change. The commissioners first voted in favor of the change at an Aug. 23 meeting, but had to repeat the process after the results of that vote were not published as a public notice fast enough, according to Town Planner Marcia Vlaun.

A Massachusetts development company, Dakota Partners, plans to buy the property, and the zone change approved Wednesday was the next step in allowing the purchase.

The zone change will go into effect after 15 days, and Faria Beede will be able to continue using the property for manufacturing purposes even after the change takes place, Vlaun said.

The 200-year-old mill complex is inefficient to conduct manufacturing operations, Faria Beede Chief Executive Officer David M. Hickey said in August.

The factory produces speedometers and other gauges for vehicles and boats, and systems that trans-

mit engine data for military, commercial and industrial vehicles.

But the nine-building complex is too small and out-ofdate for the company to continue production there, Hickey said.

The sale to Dakota Partners is not yet final and depends on a number of factors, and Hickey said last month that even though the Faria Beede’s owners have been considering a sale for years, they won’t actively be seeking a new location for the company until the company can find a buyer for the Pink Row property.

Whether the new facility will be in Montville has not been decided.